__________________________________________________________________________________________

July 22, 2007 [R.G. Smith]

Total videos: 64

• Videos submitted in 2007: 58
• Videos submitted in 2006: 6

May 2, 2007 [B.Buchanan]

We have begun the process of integrating the video archive with AITopics, working closely with Jon Glick the webmaster for AITopics, and we will proceed in stages.

Already done:

• Include the video archive as another resource for the users of AITopics with a single click from the "ShowTime" page and through the search engine.
• Include the two dozen main pages of AITopics in the sidebar of every video archive page, so text information from AITopics is available with a single click.
• Create intermediate pages accessible from the sidebar for three of the AITopics main headings (Expert Systems*, Robots*, Speech*) that allow users to see all videos under that heading together with a link to the AITopics heading page.
• Rewrite one of the AITopics pages (Robots) in PmWiki code that integrates document descriptions and video descriptions.

Next Stages: 6-18 months, depending on funding:

• Add the remaining intermediate pages to the video archive sidebar. [Pretty easy.]
• Add new pages to the video archive for every video already included on the "ShowTime" page of AITopics. [Straightforward but time consuming.]
• Use the experience rewriting the Robots page in AITopics to redesign all of AITopics as a Wiki. (Buchanan and Glick have started this discussion by email and are meeting in Pittsburgh in June for this purpose. Glick, Smith & Buchanan are meeting again at the AAAI conference in July.) [Big Job because there are other issues besides integrating videos more cleanly.]

__________________________________________________________________________________________

April 24, 2007 [B.Buchanan]

AAAI VIDEO ARCHIVE PROJECT Progress Report 4/24/07 B.G. Buchanan

[The pilot project was funded by the NSF (#0609678) and the AAAI, with considerable amounts of donated time by individuals.]

1. Create a master catalog (virtual archive) of videos already digitized and on the web plus those in library archives.

The wiki is a major step forward, thanks to Reid Smith’s work. It is still sparsely populated, but it has the capacity to grow.

Anyone can submit URL's for new additions and add information about existing videos to the wiki. We intend to limit editing privileges to AAAI members in order to reduce the amount of false or misleading information added.

We are in the process of defining form & content for the master catalog plus a procedure for adding new videos to it automatically. For now, the wiki itself is the catalog.

We are linking videos to relevant pages in AITopics.

We are balancing some manual effort to create a new entry against the effort required to write code that automates everything. As you can see from the wiki, we collect information from an individual who then submits it in an email message to Reid. Reid then creates a new wiki page for the video and either edits or creates new pages for additional linking.

A good student project is writing code to automate some or all of the steps (e.g., automatically creating pages and linking them to data pages, alphabet pages, master catalog, etc.). Please volunteer a student if you can.

We will need funding to pay a consultant to maintain the wiki and to cover some staff time for clerical work.

2. Preserve videotapes & films of historic interest by sending them to institutional archives. Make high-quality DVDs available to individuals & other institutions.

We have been working with Stanford librarians on a model that is feasible for us and for archivists.

We are working with people at Stanford and the British Library to define guidelines on meta-data. There are no accepted standards for video, but we are trying to stay consistent with what archivists telll us they need.

We intend to form a consortium of institutions that will agree to take on the responsibility of permanent, archival storage for videos we send to them.

We still need to create an editorial board that will assign priorities to the tapes and movies not already archived. Priority will be based on uniqueness, historical interest (including date and pedagogical value), and condition.

The actual copying onto an archival medium will be done by a video service or university library. The cost is estimated at about $200 per hour of video.

Jon Glick and Mike Hamilton are exploring legal issues including copyright, fair use, permissions, and challenges. We currently believe that pedagogical use by a non-profit organization is “fair use” and keeps us pretty clear. We are also on safer ground when we link to videos stored elsewhere.

We intend to provide DVDs on demand to libraries, archives, and individuals. We may charge a nominal fee for copying & mailing to discourage collectors of everything free and to help cover actual costs.

We need funding to pay for acquiring rights, digitizing, archiving, and creating high-quality DVDs so the consortium archives are not penalized for participating.

3. Identify short clips from videos for pedagogical purposes.

We are devising a short procedure that members can follow to identify clips for us. ** First cut: Watch video, note interesting segments, note start/end times for each, make notes about what the clip shows and why it is interesting, and suggest tags. This information is requested on the submission page.

For now we will identify start times and durations of selected clips; later we may want to move clips to the AAAI server and add pointers into them from AITopics

We want to find subject-level editors for all major subject-areas to take responsibility for monitoring wiki changes. Suggestions & volunteers welcome.